The purpose of this Diary, and the short series it is part of, is to acquaint non-gun people with what legitimate gun owners do with their guns. The oft-repeated "Guns are for killing" hurts Democrats every election, so hopefully a bit of education will get that canard spouted less often. It is NOT a playground for Trolls!. I certainly invite discussion or questions, but will not hesitate to use Troll Ratings where appropriate. If you missed the Shotgun version it's here.
To very briefly review, rifles are long-barreled firearms (barrel over 16 1/2 inches, by Federal Law) with grooves inside the barrel designed to impart spin to their single projectile for stability. They range from low-power .22 Rimfires to some chambered for the .50 Browning Machine Gun (BMG) round.
Competitive rifle shooting probably commenced as soon as the second rifle was completed, but may have started earlier with more than one person competing to see who could shoot the first one most accurately. Today there is a bewildering variety of different formats, which I will attempt to simplify.
The majority of competitive rifle shooting involves the familiar "bullseye" target, of various sizes at various ranges, with the objective being to place as many shots as possible within the "x" ring, or the bullseye. In Summer Olympic competition this is done from 10 meters with an air rifle (the fanciest BB guns known to man) and from 50 meters with .22 rifles. The Winter Olympics include the Biathalon, which combines cross-country skiing with 50 meter rifle shooting (not an Olympic event, "Military Biathalon" combines running with shooting).
A variety of rifle "games", while following the same basic format (hit the bullseye) center around a particular "type" of rifle, ie. muzzleloaders, Service Rifles (military), Cowboy Action Shooting (combines pistol, rifle and shotgun, along with playing dress-up and talking funny). Running Target, involving shooting at a moving target, used to be an Olympic event but was dropped from the Games several years ago, but is still popular with a segment of shooters.
Probably the most esoteric of the rifle sports is Bench Rest Shooting, in which the objective is to fire the smallest possible group of shots (usually at long range), placing all shots as close together as possible (there is also Bench Rest Shooting for score, but it's just like all other "bullseye" competitions). The rifles used for this sport are frequently barely recognizable as firearms, and in the "Unlimited" Class may be a steel I-beam with a barrelled action attached.
By far the rifle sport with the widest participation is plinking, which has no rules or standardized targets. Many, many beer cans have met their end as plinking targets, as have (unfortunately) countless drink bottles. When people talk about "target shooting" they are most commonly talking about some form of plinking, which can be thought of as simply informal shooting. As long as safety is kept in mind it can be lots of fun and sharpen hunting-related marksmanship by forcing the shooter to consider uncertain distances and varied angles unknown in formal target "games".
Rifles are used for hunting every form of land game in the world, from squirrels to elephants, but it would require a couple of separate Diaries to even begin to explore that subject in any depth.
I will address the sporting use of handguns in a few days to finish this series.